What's happening
This bill limits rent increases after a vacancy and caps rent hikes for improvements to 20% of current rent, requiring itemized documentation to tenants.
Why it matters
Prevents large rent hikes after tenant turnover. By eliminating automatic vacancy bonuses and limiting post-vacancy rent increases to a stepped percentage (maxing at 20% after four years), the bill restricts landlords from sharply increasing rents simply because a unit becomes vacant, helping keep long-term affordability in rent-stabilized apartments.
Caps rent increases for renovations. Even when landlords make major improvements or add amenities, any permanent rent increase tied to those costs cannot exceed 20% of the current rent, curbing the incentive to use upgrades as a loophole to impose excessive rent hikes.
Improves transparency for tenants. The bill requires landlords to provide new tenants with an itemized accounting and receipts for all claimed improvement-related rent increases, empowering tenants to verify the legitimacy of these charges and reducing fraudulent or inflated claims.
Limits repeated charges for similar upgrades. Owners cannot impose new rent increases for similar improvements, furniture, or equipment within the useful life of the existing ones, preventing repeated or layered charges for essentially the same amenity and protecting tenants from being overcharged for routine upgrades.
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Limit Rent Hikes After Vacancy
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History
- Referred to housing
- Referred to housing
Full text
5 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
298
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to limiting rent increase after vacancy of a housing accommodation; and to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the emergency housing rent control law, in relation to adjustment of maximum allowable rent
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph 5-a of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by section 16-a of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(5-a) provides that, notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the legal regulated rent for any vacancy lease entered into after the effective date of this paragraph shall be as hereinafter provided in this paragraph. [The previous legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation shall be increased by the following: (i) if the vacancy lease is for a term of two years, twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent; or (ii) if the vacancy lease is for a term of one year the increase shall be twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent less an amount equal to the difference between (a) the two year renewal lease guideline promulgated by the guidelines board of the city of New York applied to the previous legal regulated rent and (b) the one year renewal lease guideline promulgated by the guidelines board of the city of New York applied to the previous legal regulated rent.] However, where the amount charged and paid by the prior tenant pursuant to paragraph fourteen of this subdivision, was less than the legal regulated
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01385-01-9
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rent, such increase to the legal regulated rent shall not exceed: five percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced less than two years ago; ten percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced less than three years ago; fifteen percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced less than four years ago; twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced four or more years ago. [In addition,] If the legal regulated rent was not increased with respect to such housing accommodation by a permanent vacancy allowance within eight years prior to a vacancy lease executed on or after the effective date of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent may be [further] increased by an amount equal to the product resulting from multiplying such previous legal regulated rent by sixtenths of one percent and further multiplying the amount of rent increase resulting therefrom by the greater of (A) the number of years since the imposition of the last permanent vacancy allowance, or (B) if the rent was not increased by a permanent vacancy allowance since the housing accommodation became subject to this chapter, the number of years that such housing accommodation has been subject to this chapter. Provided that if the previous legal regulated rent was less than three hundred dollars the total increase shall be as calculated above plus one hundred dollars per month. Provided, further, that if the previous legal regulated rent was at least three hundred dollars and no more than five hundred dollars in no event shall the total increase pursuant to this paragraph be less than one hundred dollars per month. Such increase shall be [in lieu of any allowance authorized for the one or two year renewal component thereof, but shall be] in addition to any other increases authorized pursuant to this chapter including an adjustment based upon a major capital improvement, or a substantial modification or increase of dwelling space or services, or installation of new equipment or improvements or new furniture or furnishings provided in or to the housing accommodation pursuant to this section. The increase authorized in this paragraph may not be implemented more than one time in any calendar year, notwithstanding the number of vacancy leases entered into in such year, and may not be implemented without the landlord providing to the new tenant an itemized cost accounting of all improvements claimed as part of such increase and copies of the corresponding receipts with the lease agreement.
§ 2. Subdivision (a-1) of section 10 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section 16-b of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(a-1) provides that, notwithstanding any provision of this act, the legal regulated rent for any vacancy lease entered into after the effective date of this subdivision shall be as hereinafter set forth. [The previous legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation shall be increased by the following: (i) if the vacancy lease is for a term of two years, twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent; or (ii) if the vacancy lease is for a term of one year the increase shall be twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent less an amount equal to the difference between (a) the two year renewal lease guideline promulgated by the guidelines board of the county in which the housing accommodation is located applied to the previous legal regulated rent and (b) the one year renewal lease guideline promulgated by the guidelines board of the county in which the housing accommodation is located applied to the previous legal regulated rent.] However, where the amount
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charged and paid by the prior tenant pursuant to paragraph fourteen of this subdivision, was less than the legal regulated rent, such increase to the legal regulated rent shall not exceed: five percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced less than two years ago; ten percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy commenced less than three years ago; fifteen percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced less than four years ago; twenty percent of the previous legal regulated rent if the last vacancy lease commenced four or more years ago. [In addition, if] If the legal regulated rent was not increased with respect to such housing accommodation by a permanent vacancy allowance within eight years prior to a vacancy lease executed on or after the effective date of this subdivision, the legal regulated rent may be [further] increased by an amount equal to the product resulting from multiplying such previous legal regulated rent by six-tenths of one percent and further multiplying the amount of rent increase resulting therefrom by the greater of (A) the number of years since the imposition of the last permanent vacancy allowance, or (B) if the rent was not increased by a permanent vacancy allowance since the housing accommodation became subject to this act, the number of years that such housing accommodation has been subject to this act. Provided that if the previous legal regulated rent was less than three hundred dollars the total increase shall be as calculated above plus one hundred dollars per month. Provided, further, that if the previous legal regulated rent was at least three hundred dollars and no more than five hundred dollars in no event shall the total increase pursuant to this subdivision be less than one hundred dollars per month. Such increase shall be [in lieu of any allowance authorized for the one or two year renewal component thereof, but shall be] in addition to any other increases authorized pursuant to this act including an adjustment based upon a major capital improvement, or a substantial modification or increase of dwelling space or services, or installation of new equipment or improvements or new furniture or furnishings provided in or to the housing accommodation pursuant to section six of this act. The increase authorized in this subdivision may not be implemented more than one time in any calendar year, notwithstanding the number of vacancy leases entered into in such year, and may not be implemented without the landlord providing to the new tenant an itemized cost accounting of all improvements claimed as part of such increase and copies of the corresponding receipts with the lease agreement.
§ 3. Subparagraph (e) of paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section 26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by section 15 of part B of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(e) The landlord and tenant by mutual voluntary written agreement agree to a substantial increase or decrease in dwelling space or a change in the services, furniture, furnishings or equipment provided in the housing accommodations. An adjustment under this subparagraph shall be equal to one-fortieth, in the case of a building with thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or one-sixtieth, in the case of a building with more than thirty-five housing accommodations where such adjustment takes effect on or after September twenty-fourth, two thousand eleven, of the total cost incurred by the landlord in providing such modification or increase in dwelling space, services, furniture, furnishings or equipment, including the cost of installation, but excluding finance charges, with an adjustment, in both cases, being no more than twenty
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percent of the current rent, provided further that an owner who is entitled to a rent increase pursuant to this subparagraph shall not be entitled to a further rent increase based upon the installation of similar equipment, or new furniture or furnishings within the useful life of such new equipment, or new furniture or furnishings. The owner shall give written notice to the city rent agency of any such adjustment pursuant to this subparagraph; or
§ 4. Paragraph 13 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by section 16 of part B of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(13) provides that an owner is entitled to a rent increase where there has been a substantial modification or increase of dwelling space or an increase in the services, or installation of new equipment or improvements or new furniture or furnishings provided in or to a tenant's housing accommodation, on written tenant consent to the rent increase. In the case of a vacant housing accommodation, tenant consent shall not be required. The permanent increase in the legal regulated rent for the affected housing accommodation shall be one-fortieth, in the case of a building with thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or one-sixtieth, in the case of a building with more than thirty-five housing accommodations where such permanent increase takes effect on or after September twenty-fourth, two thousand eleven, of the total cost incurred by the landlord in providing such modification or increase in dwelling space, services, furniture, furnishings or equipment, including the cost of installation, but excluding finance charges, provided, however, that in both cases, the permanent increase is no more than twenty percent of the current legal regulated rent. Provided further that an owner who is entitled to a rent increase pursuant to this paragraph shall not be entitled to a further rent increase based upon the installation of similar equipment, or new furniture or furnishings within the useful life of such new equipment, or new furniture or furnishings.
§ 5. Paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section 18 of part B of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(1) there has been a substantial modification or increase of dwelling space or an increase in the services, or installation of new equipment or improvements or new furniture or furnishings, provided in or to a tenant's housing accommodation, on written tenant consent to the rent increase. In the case of a vacant housing accommodation, tenant consent shall not be required. The permanent increase in the legal regulated rent for the affected housing accommodation shall be one-fortieth, in the case of a building with thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or one-sixtieth, in the case of a building with more than thirty-five housing accommodations where such permanent increase takes effect on or after September twenty-fourth, two thousand eleven, of the total cost incurred by the landlord in providing such modification or increase in dwelling space, services, furniture, furnishings or equipment, including the cost of installation, but excluding finance charges, provided, however, that in both cases, the permanent increase is no more than twenty percent of the current legal regulated rent. Provided further that an owner who is entitled to a rent increase pursuant to this paragraph shall not be entitled to a further rent increase based upon the installation of similar equipment, or new furniture or furnishings within the useful life of such new equipment, or new furniture or furnishings.
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§ 6. Clause 5 of the second undesignated paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 4 of chapter 274 of the laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent control law, as amended by section 25 of part B of chapter 97 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
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